The luckiest team in pro football ran out of luck in Sunday's showdown at Lambeau Field.

The Chicago Bears, who have won in practically every imaginable, remarkable way this season, dropped a 17-7 decision to the Packers, who while not a great team certainly form a better-rounded group than Da' Bears.

Green Bay is tied with the Bears at 9-3 and holds the tiebreaker for the NFC Central title. "It's a good thing because we're basically in the driver's seat for the NFC Central," said Ahman Green, who gained 125 yards and scored a touchdown.

"We've got to continue what we're doing; playing well, running well, passing the ball well and finishing games out until the bitter end."

The Bears had been winning without doing several of the things Green mentioned very well at all. Basically, the Bears have a very good defense, but their offense resembles a Model T that is not firing on all cylinders. It putts along with short passes and running plays.

Some of the Bears themselves got frustrated Sunday with the puttering and shouted to coach Dick Jauron to open up the offense. But, the Bears never did. Part of the reason might be that quarterback Jim Miller can't throw downfield.

Part might be Jauron's philosophy of take what the defense gives you. Apparently, when the defensive gives you nothing, you take nothing.

The Bears minimized the shouting incident. "Things like that will happen because of frustration," said defensive end Philip Daniels. "We're not going to start pointing fingers. It just comes back at you. We have to stay together. There are still four games left, and a lot can happen in four games."

Brett Favre and the Packers also emphasized Daniels' last point. "We still have four games left," Favre said. "We should expect to win them as a team. We'll see what happens then."

You can bet tackle Jim Flanigan had a little extra incentive Sunday. The former Southern Door high school star played for the Bears until this season, when he became a Packer.

Flanigan got a little extra playing time because of injuries to Gilbert Brown and John Thierry, another former Bear.

"There is no question this is more special for me," Flanigan said Sunday. "They released me last year, and I'm glad I got a chance to play up here. I could not be more happy right now."

The Bucks seem to be back on track after two nice wins over Toronto and New Jersey at the Bradley Center. Some of the players alluded to the possibility that they played better because coach George Karl wasn't there to ridicule them.

Karl missed the games because of the death of his father, Joseph, in Washington. Assistant Terry Stotts, who is much more laid back than George, took over.

"I think the change of pace helped us," Ray Allen said. "George is very aggressive and criticizes us at times. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Terry is laid back.

"We didn't play very well in the first half (of the win over Toronto). George would have given it to us. Terry came in and just said, ‘stick with it'."

Glenn Robinson was much more open with his opinion, after Karl criticized him in the media for not practicing the day after a loss to New York. "I'm sick and tired of him ripping me," Robinson told the Racine Journal Times last week.

Big Dog made it clear he doesn't appreciate being called "selfish" by Karl, and in fact said he think the coach is "selfish" because he tries to cover his behind by ripping on his players.

Robinson further said Karl violates the pact between members of team when he publicly rips his players. "We're supposed to be a family," Robinson said.

Karl also considers the Bucks a family, but has learned that the players need some "tough love" at times. Maybe he has gone to the public criticism well too often to motivate, but Stotts doesn't think so.

"George set the foundation for these wins," Stotts said. "He got on them pretty good in practice Wednesday and challenged them to pass the ball. This team has always responded to his criticism and challenges."

If the players want Karl to go easier on them, all they have to do is show the maturity and self-motivation of seasoned pros. The fact is they don't always do so. Karl has had to resort to his tough love because the likes of Robinson, Sam Cassell and others don't always show the leadership they should.

Karl is scheduled to return Monday, to take the Bucks on the road against Miami. His first team meeting should prove rather interesting.

The Wave outscored Baltimore and Harrisburg, 29-6, in completing a road sweep over the weekend. Veteran Michael King is reaching mid-season form. He scored a hat trick in the first half against Harrisburg.

Joe Reiniger extended his scoring streak to 86 straight games with points in both games. The two wins put the Wave's record at 8-4.